Mischa Barton Prefers Models to Melrose Place

Barton eschews one TV series gig for another, an Ashton Kutcher dramedy set in NYC; casting may be set for cult musical

Color us punk'd: Mischa Barton isn't shacking up in the new Melrose Place after all.

Instead, the O.C. starlet turned headband bandit has signed on to star in another CW drama pilot, this one from the mind of Ashton Kutcher.

A Beautiful Life will revolve around a group of models living together in a coed residence in New York City. Barton will play Sonja, a supermodel struggling to stay atop the fashion pack.

"The show will be racy, drugs, drinking, things like that," she told E! News while attending a party for Blackbook Magazine last night.

So, more or less, Melrose Place East.

Meanwhile, Kristen Bell may be on the road to finding out what, exactly, is her damage by possibly starring in the musical adaptation of the darkly beloved 1988 cult classic Heathers.

The duo behind Reefer Madness is manning the film's intentionally under-the-radar transition to the stage, with readings of the material taking place this week.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bell has taken the Winona Ryder-originated lead in the rehearsals, with Christian (brother of Neve) Campbell playing Christian Slater's role.

While the actors aren't locks to go with their characters when the show makes its Broadway debut, they are likely candidates to keep their gigs, availability permitting.

In other casting news:

• Donald Faison is scrubbing up to the ABC comedy pilot The Law. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the show revolves around two of L.A's finest—finest reserve officers, that is—and Faison will join the already-cast Cedric the Entertainer for the pilot.
• Stiller waters run deep for a trio of freshly cast thesps. British actor Rhys Ifans, he of Sienna Miller relationship fame, Brie Larson and Juno Temple will join Ben Stiller in the dramedy Greenberg, per Variety. The flick follows New Yorker Stiller as he relocates to L.A. to house-sit for his brother and winds up falling for his sibling's assistant. Ifans plays Stiller's recently divorced best pal.
• Eva Longoria Parker is adding a behind-the-camera credit to her résumé, signing on to executive produce Harvest, a documentary about migrant children who work for subpoverty wages. Per Variety, shooting will take place on farms in California, Texas and Florida, where an estimated 500,000 minors work each year.

—Additional reporting by Whitney English